Pavement slab connector



Aug. 31, 1948. Erw. ABl-:L

l PAVEMENT SLAB AugI 31, 1948*. l F.w.ABE|

PAVEMENT SAB CONNECTOR Filed May 10, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 zl 3' Y v Y lo 25 3l 23 Z5- Bl 30 lo l INVENTOR,

Patented Aug. 31, 1948 l yaltalslik Y t PAvEMEN'rrsLAB CONNECTOR .Frankunmnbel, Frank1in1na. flipplicatinnimayio;1946,'sensi-Nasssszs' Y Z Claims.

This'"inventionlrelates to means for" forming. pavements; includingboth roadways andside-l walksgand the like.I The invention embodies theA formin'gf'of a roadway 'with' a plurality 'ofin'div-idualg'pre-castv slabsv of concrete; and providing4 very simple inter -connecting means betweenA slabs-whereby the sla'bsf are held to have their upper faces at common elevations vso that there may be no diierene in elevationencountered in going: from one slab to the other. That is lto say, even when the roadway is inclined .asy on a hill, the adjacentm edge ,positions` ofthe. slabs will be so positioned as to have no bump in going across.` from one to the other; -'A preliminary object f. of Athevi'nvention resides in 4the slabf interconnecting means,` comprising'ran'extremely 'simpleimechanism rnotonly cheap yinrcost of 1 produc.- tion; but: simply. and easily` manipulated onfthe jobastheslabs are laid.

These andi many other. objects'and advantages oftheinvention will. appeal to those Versediin the artt-inthe. following description of one particular form of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a fragment of a s roadway embodying the invention;

Fig. 2, a vertical section in the line 2-2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, a vertical section on the line 3--3 in Fig. l; and

Fig. 4, a detail on an `enlarged scale of the slab inter-connecting means with a portion of the cover removed.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views in the drawings.

Individual slabs Ill, II, I2 and I3, all of the same general conformation, are pre-cast at some central location convenient for the work and for delivery of the necessary materials. In each slab there is moulded a pocket I4 entering from a vertical face. The number of these pockets I4 may vary in accordance with the sizes of the slabs employed, For example, in a roadway the slabs may be of sufficient size to extend entirely across the roadway, or halfway across, or a lesser proportion, all as may be desired. In the larger slabs there will be a larger number of the pockets I4 along the vertical faces of the slabs. Within the pocket I4 in each instance there projects a bar I 5, herein shown as a round bar with one end r anchored within the slab I0. Then, in the next adjacent slab II there is a like bar I6 anchored therein to extend from the vertical face I1 into the pocket I4 of the slab I0. By suitable leveling of the undergrade I8, these bars I5 and I6 are 2 axially` aligned,l the' bars being properly from thef'side edges of the respective 'slabs to-permitY lateral alignment.- When the twoA bars'- II5 andv I6 are vertically'aligned the top faces ofthe? slabs Ill and Il'are properly aligned tojbe-in the' samecontinuous plan. 's Now i-n 'order to maintain the topfacesf'oiA the twoslabs I0 and Il in that alignment, I provide a thick-walled tubular sleeve I9 which will' slide lover these bars I5 and I6. Initially 'assuming that the slab II) is first laid down, the? sleeve lI9 may be pushedfba'ck on vthe bar- I5 to beientir'ely' confined within that length of the bar I5 which'l extends from tlle vertical facefof the slabIIl.-y

` This" permits the bar I 6to be aligned withthe` bar I5 without interference by' the sleeve I9, thenl when the twobars |5'vandl6 are aligned, the` sleeve I9 may be slid along the bar I5 to telescope-'over the'end of the bar I6 and. to remainA telescoped in part overthe end of the bar I5.l 1

Th'esleeveIS is preferably xedin this positionwhere it extends by equal lengths overtheends of `the'bars I5 and I6. Any suitable means` may-be employed-:to so flX the sleeve I9 inposition, the simple means being herein shown such appreciable changing of the elevation of one slab in respect to the other.

The pocket I4 must of course be closed over to provide a smooth continuous road or walk surface thereacross. One such closure means is illustrated in the accompanying drawings as consisting of a cover 23 made of concrete and resting on a shoulder 24 formed around the upper margin of the pocket I4 and across an upper edge portion of the adjacent slab I'I. This cover 23 is retained in xed position by means of a plurality of sleeve screws 25, herein shown as two in number. Each of these sleeve screws 25 screwthreadedly engage with a stud 26 held in xed position by a plate 21 projecting into the pocket I4 and anchored by ends in the slab I3. In the; present showing the stud 25 in each instanceA passes through a hole in a plate 21 to have upper and lower nuts 28 and 29 screw-threadedly en-` gage the stud and iix it to the plate 21 by clamping the plate therebetween.

located The cover 23 is provided with a resilient packini?.r 30, both between its underside and the shoul- I3, and for that matter the lateral slabs I and L,

II, and so on, may expand and contract under temperature changes without destroying theginter-leveling means and without leaving any appreciable gaps therebetween, even around the pocket covers 23. The pockets I4 under the cov-4` ers 23 may be filled, preferably with oiled sand length not to exceed the length exposed within said cavity of the longest of said bars, plus the axial distance therebetween.

2. In a pavement formed of removable and replaceable precast slabs, one of the slabs at least having a cavity therein entering from a vertical edge; a bar anchored in said one slab to extend a distance horizontally into said cavity short ofv said vertical edge; a second bar anchored in an adjacent; slab positioned to enter substantially into said cavity in substantially horizontal alignment with said ilrst rod; a rigid sleeve telescoping said ilrst bar and being less than the'length thereof exposed within said cavity;` a resilient sleeve telescoping within said rigid sleeve?Y 'whereby said combined sleeves may be shiftedto telscopically interconnect said first and 33, in order to prevent rusting of the various parts one t0 the other, although the use of the fibre sleeve. 22 between the sleeve I9 and the'bars I5` andvIS will prevent bonding by rusting. l

While I have herein shown and described the invention in the one particular form, it is obvious `that mechanical variationsV may be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefore I do not intend to be limited to that precise form beyond the limitations as may -be required by the following claims.

I claim: 1. In a pavement formed by a plurality of precast units.' one of the units at least having a cavitygentering from an edge, a bar anchored in said fone unit to extend vby a length into said cavity;. a second bar anchored in anfadjacent unit 'to extend therefrom and align axially with said iirst bar when the top, adjacent edge portion ofthe two units are at a common eleva-V second bars; an oil-sand lling within said cavity completely covering over said rods and said sleeves; a shoulder around the upper marginal portion of said cavity; a rigid cap supported by said shoulder; a resilient packingbetween said cap and said shoulder; said oil-sand filling-extending against the under side of said cap; and means releasabiy securing the cap against said packing and said sand.

. I FRANKLIN-W. ABEL.

REFERENCES CITED The vfollowing references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED sTATEs PATENTS Number Date 

